


As We Fall

by The_Silent_Writer



Category: Mr. Robot (TV), Until Dawn (Video Game)
Genre: Drug Use, Drug Withdrawal, Friends to Lovers, Gen, Long Lost Friends, M/M, Recovery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-09
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-03-02 13:04:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13318719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Silent_Writer/pseuds/The_Silent_Writer
Summary: Elliot is new to New York. He got a job at AllSafe and is ready to live his life as quietly as possible. That is until he runs into his past and starts heading towards an uncertain future.





	As We Fall

Elliott's new boss, Gideon, is talking. About the layout of the offices, details about his new job, plenty of information is coming out the guy's mouth but Elliott can't concentrate long enough for any of it to stick. This is his first day at a new job, in a huge city, around unfamiliar people and he is terrified, border-line panicked. It's not like his face would show it, he's never been one to outwardly express his emotions. But he can feel it; the sweat on his hands, the tightness in his shoulders, the solid thudding of his heart in his chest.

"Hey, —"

_Gideon’s calling someone over. A mentor? For me? I already know how to do the job. I could run circles around this company._

"Elliot," his boss startles him out of his head by placing a well-meaning hand on his shoulder. "This is Christopher Fleiss, he'll show you the ropes until you're settled in here." Gideon smiles, not noticing how frigid Elliott's body has become from a mere friendly gesture.

The name doesn't sit right with him. _Do I know that name? How do I know that name?_ It's so familiar, yet the young man in front of him is so foreign.

"Hey, man, nice to see you," Fleiss says warmly. His voice is sweet and calm, with just a hint of an accent that seems to be connected with everyone in Cyber Security Engineering. In other words, this man is a nerd and all Elliott needs is five minutes and a console to prove it.

He doesn't offer a hand to shake, just a smile that tries to be as warm as his greeting had been. Elliott's grateful for the gesture, or lack thereof.

He nods in return, pulling his arms close to his sides.

Fleiss makes a face that Elliott can't quite place. Again, Elliott feels unsettled.

"Well, I'll take Elliott under my wing now, Gideon. If Evil Corp decides to make their rounds for the week, tell me and I’ll cover for you."

Gideon physically sags with relief. "Thank you, Christopher."

"Any time, Chief! Come on, Elliott, I'll show you to your cube."

Elliot nods and follows quietly.

Fleiss takes them to a secluded corner of the office floor. This seems to be where the actual Engineers are holed up. Each one of them is knee-deep in code and Linux processing with their spectacled eyes glued to their monitors.

Fleiss, Elliot notices, isn't wearing glasses.

"Here's our department. I'm sure Gideon already told you, but we work closely with Evil Corp's accounts. I'll be supervising you your first week here, just to make sure you've got the ropes, but something tells me you won't be needing me."

Elliott can read Fleiss' face well enough to see the fall in his features. He's still smiling gently, but something about it feels melancholic.

He just nods again and takes his seat.

 

Christopher Fleiss, Elliott finds, smiles a lot. He's sociable and cordial to the entire group, answering any and every question relating to work with that same – fake – smile that he first greeted Elliott with.

Elliott needs to find out what this guy's catch is.

"Hey, Elliott?"

"Yeah?"

"Wanna go out for lunch? My treat. I can show you around a bit too. If you want."

This is unexpected. Elliott's plan was to just wait for food until he got home in the evening. He had learned quickly that if it wasn't from some cheap Mexican or Chinese market, food was expensive in the city. But it looked like the opportunity to figure out Fleiss had come earlier than he thought it would.

"Sure… thanks."

Fleiss gets up and stretches, groaning loudly as his back pops. "No worries, bro. Come on, I know a good place that has killer fries."

"Bring me back a mint shake!" One of their coworkers shouts as they make their way to the glass doors.

"Gotchu, Lloyd!" Fleiss replies, making little guns with his fingers and firing them off.

Elliot just follows quietly.

 

He doesn't want to admit that the fries are good, but Elliot thinks they're really fucking good.

"Like 'em?" Fleiss asks.

It wasn't until he was asked that he realizes he was inhaling his food. He takes a swig of his drink so he doesn't choke. "…yeah. They're good… thanks."

"No problem, man, glad you like 'em."

A silence falls between them. The bustling city around them continues, but in this bubble they've created with each other, it's quiet. Elliot can't figure out what's happening. Fleiss clearly has something he wants to say but he's hesitating. _Has been_ hesitating since they met this morning.

"D-did I do something at… at work?"

Shit. He hadn't meant to stutter. He's knows he did everything right. He never makes mistakes. But he needed to figure out what this man's play was, otherwise his mind won't rest.

He’d kill for a hit right now.

Fleiss looks over at Elliot likes he's appalled Elliot even suggested such a thing. "No, God, no!" He reassures immediately. Though it wasn't the goal, something in Elliot relaxes. "You didn't… haha," Fleiss chuckles to himself as he fishes out a case for contact lenses out of his backpack.

Elliot watches his every move; the way the lenses peel away from Fleiss' gray-blue eyes is almost mesmerizing.

He digs through his bag again and pulls out a glasses case. With as much ease as he could muster, which is to say, none at all, Fleiss pushed a pair of black framed glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"I guess you really don't remember me, huh?" He laughs again, scratching the back of his head shyly. "It has been about a decade, so I can't really blame you."

_Shit._

Something inside of Elliot flickers to life.

"Chris?"

"Hey, Elliot." Chris says, smiling. This one is bright. This one is real.

Fleiss doesn't wear glasses. But Elliot remembers that Chris always used to.

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you that read Message Man, I'm sorry I haven't updated in a long while. Life's been doing some things. But, here's a random work that I had started a long time ago as some sort of weird compensation. 
> 
> Stay beautiful~


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